Even though it’s technically a sequel to 2015’s Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Infinite‘s mission is not so much to continue the story of the Reclaimer Saga and all the Cortana and Forerunner baggage that comes with it. Yes, there’s still a bit of that throughout Halo Infinite’s 10-15 hour story campaign, but the game’s main concern, as Master Chief crash lands on yet another mysterious Halo ring, is to recapture the magic of 2001.

From the opening space mission, it’s clear that Halo Infinite wants its 30+ year old fandom who bought the original Xbox two decades ago to feel nostalgic for the days of “The Silent Cartographer,” funny Cortana quips, and LAN parties. Overall, the game succeeds as a legacy sequel full of easter eggs and callbacks, even if at times it seems like the story wants to deconstruct the legend of Master Chief, show how it’s imperfect, and reveal the scars left behind after the fall of Cortana.

There are moments when the writers seem to want to do for John-117 what Star Wars: The Last Jedi did for Luke Skywalker, even putting him in the role of teacher for the game’s new AI character, an interesting inverse to his relationship with Cortana. But the story feels at its weakest when trying to communicate how those complex character beats relate to the ongoing Forerunner mumbo jumbo that makes up the overall plot. The story is full of the vague proper nouns that pervade other shooters of its ilk, like Destiny: the Conservatory, the Auditorium, the Harbinger, etc. Not that the original trilogy didn’t do this too, but fans cared about the Flood, the Index, the Arbiter, and the Ark.

Halo Infinite‘s attempt to go back to the franchise’s roots by packing an open-world full of familiar sights and sounds from Combat Evolved is a clear sign Reclaimer lore hasn’t quite captured the imagination in the same way. In fact, one of the biggest criticisms developer 343 Industries has faced since 2012’s Halo 4 is that their games deviated too far from the story and tone fans knew and loved. At the very least, Evil Cortana did not sit well.

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